US to work through UN on Syria arms proposal

Tuesday

Sep 10, 2013 at 8:40 PMSep 10, 2013 at 10:44 PM

By Michael D. Shear, Michael R. Gordon and Jonathan Weisman, THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — The United States will begin working with its allies at the United Nations to explore the viability of a Russian plan to avert military action against Syria by having the international community take control of the Syrian chemical weapons stockpile, a senior White House official said Tuesday.

The decision to work through the United Nations came after President Barack Obama spoke Tuesday morning with President François Hollande of France and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, the White House official said.

"They agreed to work closely together, and in consultation with Russia and China, to explore seriously the viability of the Russian proposal to put all Syrian chemical weapons and related materials fully under international control in order to ensure their verifiable and enforceable destruction," the official said. "These efforts will begin today at the United Nations."

A meeting of the Security Council had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon but was canceled at Russia's request, according to United Nations diplomats.

The rapid-fire diplomatic developments elicited some skepticism from many regional and international players, who questioned the motives behind the Russian gambit and speculated that Moscow's plan would enable the Syrian authorities to buy time. There are also questions about the viability of the plan, which is still being developed.

France has already begun to share a draft Security Council resolution on Syria, which members of the council were consulting about on Tuesday afternoon. "Discussions have just begun," said a United Nations diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "We're looking at a process that will last a few days."

But Russia's Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that it opposed any resolution that would authorize the use of force. Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, telephoned his French counterpart and told him a resolution like the one proposed by France was "unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement.

Instead, Russia will propose a presidential statement, which is far less binding, calling on the secretary-general and the organization that oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention to carry out the proposal to put Syria's arsenal under international control.

"The Russian draft confirms that there is no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict" in Syria, the statement said.

Obama's decision to embrace a United Nations process came as he prepared to consult with senators on Capitol Hill and deliver a speech to the nation Tuesday night, which was originally scheduled to explain why he was asking Congress for authorization to take military action against the government of President Bashar Assad in retaliation for its use of chemical weapons.

Aides to Obama said he would continue to press for military action against Syria, but the proposal floated Monday by Lavrov has transformed both the domestic and international debate over Obama's plan after he appeared to be waging a losing battle to win support for a military response.

Under the Russian proposal, international monitors would be sent to Syria to take control of the chemical stocks, which would ultimately be eliminated. Syria has welcomed the Russian initiative but has not specifically endorsed the idea of disposing of its huge chemical weapons arsenal.

In Moscow, Russian officials said they were working with the authorities in Damascus on a "workable, precise and concrete plan" to advance the proposal, which received public endorsements from Syria's foreign minister and prime minister, but not from Assad himself.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia said that the proposal to take control of Syria's chemical weapons — and to resolve the crisis in general — was possible only if the United States and others forswore the use of military force.

He said he had discussed the issue with Obama on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meetings in St. Petersburg last Friday. Putin also said he welcomed the initial response of Syrian officials.

"Undoubtedly, all of this makes sense and can function, can work, only if we hear that the American side and those who support the United States in this sense rule out the use of force," Putin said in televised remarks Tuesday night, "because it is difficult to make any country — Syria or any other country, any other government in the world — unilaterally disarm if the use of force is being prepared against it."

He noted that Syria had "a certain arsenal of chemical weapons," and that "the Syrians have always regarded it as an alternative to the nuclear weapons in Israel." He said he and Obama had agreed to ask Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry to work intensively to try to resolve the issue.

Syria's foreign minister appeared to acknowledge for the first time Tuesday that the Syrian government possesses chemical arms.

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